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For the last 20 years we've been The Good News -- a title that, while appropriate, was not distinctive enough due to several other magazines having the same name. Our new name, Beyond Today, links us more closely with our Beyond Today television program and Internet websites.
What's behind the Beyond Today name? Quite a lot! Jesus Christ's message of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15 ) had two key time dimensions. One was the present, as He told His listeners to right now "repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15 ).
This means that all those who hear that message need to change their lives and thinking, turning their backs on the way that seems right and natural to us but in the end leads only to suffering and death (Proverbs 14:12 ; Proverbs 16:25 ). In other words, we need to "seek the Lord while He may be found, [and] call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6 ). This is what "repent" means -- to change from our own ways to living God's way of life. We need this exhortation to change now "while it is called 'Today'" (Hebrews 3:13 ) because we have faith in what God says about tomorrow -- about the world and our lives beyond today.
Christ's message of the Kingdom of God also had a distinct future element to it. His message was, after all, a continuation of the biblical prophets who had gone before Him -- men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and others whose messages offered hope of a new world and a new age beyond today when the Messiah would return to earth and establish a world-ruling divine kingdom, the Kingdom of God!
Notice Acts 1:6-8 . After Jesus had been killed and raised to life again, He appeared to His disciples. They asked Him if He would now establish that Kingdom. His response? "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
They didn't realize then that the Kingdom for which they longed lay far in the future. Almost 2,000 years later, His followers still await its coming. We await the coming Kingdom, a Kingdom beyond today.
So although our magazine name is new, our mission and message are not. They are timeless. The message is still that of God's great plan and purpose for you and all humanity. It's the message about why you were born, why you are here, and the astounding future your Creator has planned for you if you are willing to change your thinking and your priorities from the here and now to begin planning for your future beyond today.
We'll continue to open up God's Word to help you understand it -- what it teaches about topics relevant to your life, lessons we should learn from the people, places and events recorded within it, and what its prophecies reveal about where our chaotic and confused world is heading.
All of these tie in with our new name Beyond Today. We're dedicated to sharing with our readers the Bible's great hope of a world beyond today when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9 ).
We look forward to having you with us on this journey. And continue to join us in praying to God, "Your Kingdom come!"
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